Revelations
by NYTimesAuthor
Summary: My own book version of the continuation of Dark Angel. Will Heaven be able to survive without Troy? Or will the unthinkable happen? Chapter Four up
1. Memories

Takes place near the end of dark angel; except, Troy never tried to commit suicide, and Heaven is about to graduate from college. And yada yada. I loved Heaven and Dark angel, but the rest of the books, I thought were total crap because I didn't like the way that things went. SO I'm going to make my own book, the continuation of Dark Angel called Revelations. I'm going to try to update a new chapter every Monday, to get on a type of Schedule that you can easily follow. I won't be updating next Monday though, since I'm leaving on Vacation. If I can squeeze out a chapter before Friday, I'll do it. But If I'm too busy, I'll just wait till the following Monday. Ok, so read my first chapter and leave a review :

Chapter 1 : Memories

The sun was shinning brightly on graduation day. That reflected my mood that I was currently feeling. I was finally accomplishing my lifelong dream that I'd wanted to pursue ever since I was 6 years old. Me, Heaven Leigh Casteel, was graduating from one of America's best universities. And I'd done it alone. I was the first one from my hillbilly family to actually reach this far, and the fact that I was graduating (a Casteel no less) made me elated. Not even a year ago, I would have gladly admitted that I was ashamed of being a Casteel. Now, I had two reasons to contradict that. For one, I'd proved everyone's insecurities about me wrong, proving that I was more than that girl from the wrong side of the tracks (or in other words, the wrong side of the mountains). My silly aspirations as a young girl were no longer silly; for I'd achieved some of them. A few I still had to pursue, such as bringing my siblings back together under one roof, and finally gaining my Pa's love.

An unexpected pain shot through my heart as I thought about Pa. A part of me longed for him to be here, to see his daughter graduate from college, to even _accept_ and love me as his daughter. And if that would ever be accomplished, I would instantly forgive him for all the tribulations throughout my childhood that I had to overcome along with my brothers and sisters. But I could stop the wistful wishing, for he would never be here. I now knew why he hated me so much, for I didn't just kill his Angel with my birth; I wasn't even his biological child! I had recently found out that Tony was in fact my biological father, for he had raped my mother when she was 13. When I had first found out that, I denied it, for it possibly couldn't be true! But I slowly began to accept that Tony was telling the truth, and I resented him for it. I hated him for he raped my teenage mother. I couldn't believe that a man of his stance, a man who could have any woman that he wanted, would rape a child. He even went on as to say that my mom had provoked him! I found out that in his own way he loved my mother. But still that gave him no reason to do what he did. And for that, I resented him. But for some unknown reason, I couldn't build up my anger against him to leave him, for without him, I never would have reached my goal.

As if the devil himself had a magnetic field about him to magnetically pull my eyes toward him, I turned back to the crowd to see Tony smiling encouragingly at me, alongside Jillian, who looked as if she would rather be anywhere else but here. Jane (who refused to be called Our Jane anymore) and Keith were there, a few seats away from Tony and Jillian, sitting with the Rawlings looking really happy for me. I still could not get over how healthy and beautiful they looked, with their radiant smiles and glowing complexions. It was as if the mountains had never happened, at least in their lives. I would given anything for Tom, Grandpa, and even Fanny to be there. But that was more wistful thinking, for Tom (along with Grandpa) couldn't bear to leave Pa alone, even though 'he said' that he had to do college exams; and Fanny never in a million years would come, unless there was a chance that she could ruin my happiness. But I mailed her an invitation anyway, which she obviously declined. Not even a letter or a phone call (I never gave her my number, but she managed to weasel it out of Tom) to say congratulations or why she wasn't there. Tom called at least to tell me congratulations and sorry that he could not make it, but that he would be with me in spirit. I sighed. I just would have to accept that me and Fanny would never be close, for she was too blinded by jealousy to ever want to truly be sisters and be happy for me.

Out of a sixth sense, or either Déjà vu, I expected Troy to be there, just as he was there for my high school graduation from Winterhaven, the private boarding school where I suffered daily hell up until a point from various girls, the graduation that Tony and Jillian hadn't bothered to attend. I looked all over the crowd, but found no sign of Troy. A wave of disappointment crashed over me, for without me knowing it, I built up to the dream notation that even though I hadn't seen or heard from troy in over 3 years, he would show up to my graduation to give me the notation that he cared.

I mentally kicked myself for making myself believe for one second that Troy would just show up out of the blue as if everything were all right again and nothing had changed. Lord knows how much I wished for that silly daydream to become reality. No matter the time change since I had seen him last, I still missed him, as if it were just yesterday that he had left me, his brother Tony, and his little storybook cottage that he, along with I, loved. I still missed his teasing manners, his gentlemanly ways, his sensitivity with his sometimes boyish innocence, his wild ruffled hair, and his soulful deep eyes. I missed his caressing touches, his sweet kisses, his way of bringing me to a quick orgasm with a few strokes, not to exclude, out passionate lovemaking. Not anyone in my life had every made love to me like Troy. Though the only other person that I could compare to was Cal Dennison, my adoptive father (wife of Kitty, my adoptive mother), and even though he purposely seduced me to suit his own needs, he could not compare to Troy. Some part of my conscious whispered that nobody would ever hold a candle to Troy. And that was what hurt the most, for even though Troy was my uncle ( for I certainly did not care) I wasn't with the one man that I loved, who I felt truly happy with, for I could share my problems with him and he would be patient and listen to me with unjudging ears. Whenever I received good or bad news, my first instinct was to run to Troy and tell him. But with sad acceptance, I had to realize that Troy wasn't there for me anymore.

I forced out those sad and bad thoughts, for this was my graduation day: a day for me to be happy and rejoice. So I forced all thoughts of Pa, Fanny, and most importantly Troy, out of my head and stared forward at the stage, waiting for my name to be called. When it finally was, I heard the polite applause for me, but the eager applause stood out above the others, me knowing that it was my family applauding for me. As I walked the stage, accepting my diploma, I silently thought a prayer to my dead Grandma Anni in my head. _I did it Grandma, I did something that would truly had made you proud. _ Almost simultaneously following, uneasiness settled over me, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, as if someone were watching me closely—too closely. But I shrugged it off, for it was really stupid. Everyone was staring at me.

My graduation party was a major gala, for people I did not even know (and even though they were not at my graduation) were there. I had the strong feeling that they were there for Tony's sake rather than me. But I didn't care, for I had reached my goals: I would finally become the teacher that Miss Deale had been, and I had found Keith and Jane. I was an adult now, 22 years of age, and yet, I still didn't feel complete. Something was missing out of my life that I desperately craved. Without even thinking about it, more by pure instinct, I followed through the maze that had once had me lost within it's depths and cut through the side to come upon the familiar storybook cottage that I loved. I stood for a minute outside of the blue door, contemplating what I was doing. Without concern for the emotional damage that might occur for what I was about to do, I turned the doorknob and stepped into the familiar adobe of the cottage that felt more like a home. I almost gasped aloud, for the cottage looked exactly for the way that Troy had left it. The rocking chair that he so dearly loved to sit in was turned toward the fireplace, as if he had just vacated it a short while ago. I turned to head toward the kitchen, looking for nothing in particular. I was surprised to find the kitchen fully stocked, as if there were really a person staying at the cottage now. Alas finally, I turned toward his bedroom (or rather former) where he and I had shared so many memories, wonderful and cherishable ones. My eyes adjusted to the dimmer light in this one, the sunlight streaming trough the window not as brightly as it had in the kitchen. The bed with its navy blue sheets made up to perfection loomed before my vision, almost instantaneously stealing my attention. Memories flowed through my head at that moment, the moans of pleasure and groans of release echoing so loud that I though them to be real. I turned away from the bed and went to the dresser, barren, except for a couple of framed pictures: one of whom I presumed to be Tony and Troy's parents (we never talked about them much) and one of Tony and Troy, this one when Troy was young, perhaps around 3. I smiled, thinking how cute and irresistible Troy looked at even a young age. His face captured your attention first, his sparkling dark brown eyes, and curly dark hair such a winning combination. Despite his many allowances of memories of him being a sickly boy, in this picture, he looked radiant with joy, his coloring a healthy color, his cheeks rosy. More than ever, this picture looked as to be of father and son. Only one who knew of the Tatterton history would know that it was the complete opposite. But I had to give Tony credit for being there for Troy in everyway that a father should be there for his son. For a moment, I experienced true jealousy for their love, for I was deprived of it growing up. I looked for love in all the wrong places too, trying to find it in Cal, then finally in Tony, who I still could not contemplate to think of as my father. I briefly stroked the silver frame of the picture before I turned away from the dresser, and toward the closet. I opened it and stared back at the clothes of Troy that remained there. The loose smocks that he favorably wore were gone. In its place hung dark sweaters along with a few uncaterizable shirts. Unconsciously I held up the sleeve of one of his sweaters up to my nose, trying to find a scent that I knew subconsciously would not be there. Feeling silly, I closed the closet door, and stood in the middle of the room, looking all around me, taking in every nook and cranny of the room. Not a single thing there to give me a remembrance of his smell (which I had more than remembered—I craved). Even his adjoining bathroom held no aftershaves (he never wore cologne). I sighed and plopped down on the bed, curling up in a ball with the pillow curled up beside me. I vaguely thought about Kitty's delusion about how it was sinful and evil to lay on your side, especially curled up with a pillow as the way I was laying. I thought about the beating I suffered when I purposely provoked her. I banished that memory out of my head.

I could have sworn I smelt Troy's scent in the pillow and sheets, but my imagination must have supplied it greatly. Even though my mind stubbornly told me it was nothing but a wishful memory, I was intoxicated by the make believe scent, because in reality, his scent would not have stayed as strong over 3 years, no matter how well preserved the cottage was. No matter how much my imagination played with my feelings and my desires, I enjoyed the brief period of bliss. I could practically feel Troy's kisses upon my lips and various parts of my body. In the moment, I stroked myself down there, imagining that it was Troy's excellently skilled fingers instead of my own. I moaned at my own inducement of pleasure, imagining that it was Troy in fact who was doing the inducing.

I don't know how long I lay in that bed, tears leaking out of my eyes as I had finally realized that memories and fantasies just did not live up to the real thing. And no matter how much I hoped and prayed, Troy just wasn't coming back into my life. And that hurt beyond a doubt. I knew that I could never really move on with my life and experience true happiness unless I finally and forevermore said goodbye to the memories that would break way into nothing but pain and remorse. I sat up finally, making no move to fix the bed which I disarrayed in my daydreams and fantasies. I stood up, rearranging my summer dress before I went to the front door of the cottage. I stood before the door, my hand on the knob. Without turning around, I whispered to the still cabin, almost as if it were waiting for the words that I were about to whisper: "Good-bye Troy." Despite the tears that leaked down my face, I opened the door, and forevermore closed it, for I would never enter this cottage of love that I once knew to endure more memories that would only bring on pain, and never let me move on.


	2. Getway

Chapter 2

The next morning, I woke up, laying in bed reflecting on what all had happened yesterday. I was twenty-two years old, college graduate, but I still did not have complete satisfaction. I realized more than ever that all I had done up to this point was completely worthless if I did not have my whole family there with me to share it, and to see how much I had changed from that once wistful little girl who was just struggling to keep her younger brothers and sisters alive. Tom's face appeared in my mind, smiling that sad sort of smile as if he understood right then and there my dilemma.

As if a lightbulb had appeared above my head, the solution came instantly to me. I would go to Georgia and visit Tom. I flashed back to his recent letter that he wrote me, telling me that he was truly happy now. He worked at Pa's circus as well as went to school. I hated seeing him at that silly circus, for I didn't want him to end up like Pa, an idiot who dropped out of school before he reached the fifth grade. Women who looked at Pa when he was dressed in his best, and when he talked like a gentleman would not speculate about the hillbilly within. But I was not easily fooled by Pa's charms, for I resented him for selling off his children when the going got tough, to have us abused in different ways. The only two Casteel children who got off unscathed were Keith and Jane, who had the most loving parents out of the whole lot.

As much as I wanted for Pa to accept me so I could forgive him, I was hurt that he never even made a single move to contact me, despite the fact that he had my address. What hurt the most was that he had enough love for his new wife and child, Tom, and even Fanny, but he couldn't at least show a little love, a little bit of feeling that he did not resent me because I killed his angel, my mother.

I shrugged off the chill. Yes, that was exactly what I would do, I would visit Tom, then travel back to the Willies to visit Fanny. And perhaps Stacie and Drake, for Drake was my half brother. And I couldn't fault him for Pa's lack of affection toward me. And as much as I tried to hate her, I couldn't help but like Stacie, for she showed nothing but kindness toward me, and thanked me considerable in the notes she sent to me whenever I sent Drake some sort of present or another. I recalled back to that single time that I met her, how I could see how she was so much in love with Pa, stars shining in her eyes. She was just like my mother, fallen for Luke Casteel's charms and blinded toward his unmentionable side that was just as wild and uncaring as the rest of him. I could easily see why Pa married Stacie, for she was blonde and blue eyed, just like my mother whom he still loved. And I remembered Stacie remarking on Pa's love for my mother as well, a look of sadness in her eyes tinted briefly as she realized why Luke Casteel had fallen for her in the first place. But overall she appeared happy.

I climbed out of my bed, stretching, getting ready to start my day. I would go down to breakfast and sit down along with Tony and Jillian, and calmly tell them that I had decided to go and visit my family, the hillbilly relatives that he had so often displayed disinterest and disgust whenever I mentioned them. The only ones that he like for me to talk to were Keith and Jane, which was only because Keith and Jane had grown up in a respectable home, with respectable parents, not at all and reminiscent dreams about the dreaded mountains were we grew up, which he wanted to hear nothing off.

When I had dressed and downstairs at the dining room table, as expected Tony didn't understand why I wanted to go to associate with my hillbilly family.

"But why would you want to go back to the past, Heaven? You have everything going for you here, your life revolves around here?" Tony said, openly distraught. I was no longer scarred of him, for the years before, I was scarred of him kicking me out before I graduated from college. And over the years, I sort of gained a love of him. But the thought of me leaving him now, especially since Jillian was so wrapped up in her own reality and determination to stay young, left him sad because he had no one. And so he tried everything he could to keep me with him, to posses me in a frightening way the appalled, frightened, and yet intrigued me.

"Now that you've graduated, you and I could go on vacation somewhere, perhaps Greece, and spend some time together," he grasped at straws, trying to bait me into staying with him. I flinched as he mentioned Greece, remembering that it was where Troy and I were going to go on our honeymoon, when we were engaged years ago.

I stubbornly shook my head. "No, Tony," I stated firmly. I never could bring myself forth to call him father, as I just could not think of him in those terms. He may have provided for me, and in his own way loved me like a father, I just couldn't acknowledge him as that. "I can't go with you. Long ago, I promised myself that I would bring my family together once again, and perhaps finally make amends with Pa." I could see the desperation in his eyes, as it scarred me how much he didn't' want me to leave. All the more reason for me to leave, for I did not like the way that he clung to me, the look that was sometimes in his eyes whenever he looked at me. It was as if he loved me too much. "Besides, I need a change in scenery, for I'm laden with too much sadness around here. Too many unwanted memories…" _Too many memories of Troy._

Tony looked deeply puzzled. "But I though that you were truly happy here? Was I wrong to think that?" I shook my head vigorously. "No Tony, living here was more than I could possibly dream. I thank you for supporting my education and my needs. But I need to venture out on my own now, get my footing firmly on the ground, to see what my next step is going to be."

He sighed deeply, resignation sounding in his voice that I noticed. He finally understood that no amount of pleading could change my mind. He as well could not threaten me anymore about kicking me out, or not giving me another penny, for one I was an adult now, I had a degree behind my name. And money wasn't a desperate factor anymore, for over the years, I had saved up money in a checking and savings account (money that Tony could not touch), and had saved up a considerably large amount. _Pretty good for a Casteel,_ I thought.

"When are you leaving?" he said, his eyes more than sad now that it made me sad to see his defeated expression, for the powerful Tony Tatterton was never easily defeated. I held my ground firmly, for I would not fall for his earnest expression, for I had fallen into the habit too much of letting him control and persuade me too much. "Tomorrow morning I wanna set out. Which means that I'm going to need Beth to help me load up my car." _My car, _I thought gleefully. Tony had brought me a brand new white Jaguar as a graduation present, which he surprised me with after my episode in Troy's cabin.

He nodded. "How long do you plan on going?"

I hadn't thought of that. "I don't know. How long it takes me, I guess." On the opposite side of Tony, Jillian scrunched up her nose as if something foul was smelling. "Why would you want to go _back there_?" She snarled. "Seriously Heaven, I don't understand why you would want to affiliate with _those people _who have no definite class." She sounded really nasty about it, showing more discontent toward me than she ever did. Normally she ignored me, or subtly showed her displeasure, but never outright showed a nasty side. Even Tony looked at her with disclosure. "Jillian-" he began, but I cut them off.

"They may not have the class that you approve of _Grandmother,_ but they are my family and I love them regardless." She flinched at the forbidden word that I used, which she hated as it signed how old she was. I wiped my mouth and stood up, Curtis moving forth to take my plate of half eaten breakfast. "Excuse me now, but I'm going upstairs to pack." As I made my way up the stairs, Tony was right behind me. "Heaven," I turned back to him, watching his face twisted in pain. "Please disregard Jillian. She isn't in her right mind these days. She didn't mean-" but he stopped. He was about to say _She didn't mean it_, but she did. She always resented the fact that I'd come and disrupted her carefully predicted and perfected life.

He sighed, that sorrow in his eyes once again. "I'm going to miss you." He reached out to brush a strand of my black hair back, his fingers lingering. On the side of my face. I began to grow uneasy underneath his scrutiny, and the glassiness that came into his eyes, as if he were suddenly transported into a different place. I moved his hand away from my face, his eyes suddenly losing its glassiness. Then brightness replaced the sadness. "I know! Lets spend one last day together in Boston before you leave…It could be like a father/daughter trip!" I flinched from his choice of words, but he pretended not to notice. "I don't know, I need to call my family and let the know that I'm coming, along with packing…"

He waved his hand, "You can do that later. Come on, it'll be fun. It's the last time in a while I suppose that we'll be able to go out on a trip like this." He seemed to have sensed my breaking down, and pounced on the weakness. "It's the least that you could do after leaving me here all by myself."

I frowned. "First of all, I'm not leaving you, I'm leaving to find my own place in this world. Second of all, you are not going to be here by yourself. You have Jillian and a whole mansion full of servants. You'll hardly be alone."

He shook his head. "It won't be the same. Jillian isn't what she use to be anymore, and the servants are hardly comparable to your presence. Please, Heaven, for me?" I could see in his eyes his desperateness and pleading that he probably did not even know was there. Because to the public eye, Tony Tatterton did not plead to or for anyone. And I guess that revelation was what pushed me to my response. "Ok. I guess it could be fun." A smile broke out onto his face. For some reason, I felt that I was staring into the smile of the devil.

I had to admit to myself latter riding back in the limo that I did have fun. Tony had taken me to the mall in Boston where he bought me practically a whole new wardrobe which I tried to decline, but it was like trying to convince a rock. I guess that was why he was such a successful businessman. Though it was so strange how Tony was so accumulated to women's fashions, when most men from what I could tell could care less. I though vaguely back to the time when Tony had dressed me for my days in high school. Of course, I stood out like a sore thumb, as nobody dressed the way that I did. In fact, they dressed in mostly jeans and t-shirts. That was part of the reason of why I had such a rough time there. I moreover vowed to never do the same thing to my child if I should ever have one.

Soon after shopping, he took me to dinner at Cecil's, a very exclusive and expensive restaurant in the Boston area that only the finest of society dined at [of course, I could have given a lesser care, for I would have been happy the same at a McDonalds.

Later, he took me to the movies, where he let me pick what we would watch, which was a comedy that kept us in an uplifting mood.

Now sitting in the dark interior of the limousine, it seemed as if we had run out of things to say, for the reason for this trip had sunk back on top of us like a black cloud. I felt prickles on the back of my neck and looked over at Tony to find him staring thoughtfully at me. I shifted a bit underneath his close scrutiny.

He sighed. "Are you sure that you want to leave here? You have a home and a family here, where you are more than welcomed here."

"My home is back in Winnerrow. And my family-" I broke off, thinking of Tom, Fanny, Keith, Our Jane, Grandpa, and even Pa. "My family, the family that I grew up to love, is not here. And I need to find them, and hopefully we could all become as close as we were growing up. I need this Tony, and I truly appreciate all that you've done for me over the years. But…..its time for me to go."

His eyes peered at me with curious eyes, his features contorted in a way that I couldn't read. He dissected me visibly in a way that made me a bit uncomfortable. I felt as if he were searching for a weakness in me. I was satisfied the least when I knew he wouldn't find one.

"Exactly what are you going to do when you get to----"

"Winnerrow. Well, I'm going to go to the local school that I attended, and try to see if I could get a job there.:"

He frowned his nose distastefully. "Why would you want a job, _there_? When the pay is low and the conditions not suitable for you." I flinched in anger. "Conditions not suitable for me? It was where I grew up, where I sought out an education growing up. Those children need me, bottom line. So what if the pay isn't as grand as it would be here? That place is just a part of me, and as much as you want to strip that part of my life of me, you can't." I was tired of having the same discussion over and over again. I wanted to change the subject. "So how's business at Tatterton Toys?" It was a bad change of subject, but I had nothing else better to say.

"Well, business couldn't be better right now, although there has been a higher need of demand over the past few weeks that requires me to be at the office a bit more than I use to be. And because of that, Jillian is complaining more than ever." He sighed.

"Speaking of Jillian, is it just me, or has she seem to have…. I don't know…._change _over the last few weeks?" He frowned. "How do you mean? Because Jillian is just as she always is. Hard to believe that is the same woman that I married 20 years ago." He shook his head.

The car pulled into the circular driveway in front of the house and the driver proceeded to help Tony and I out of the car. Tony disappeared into the house after muttering something about having to take care of business deals. Berlina, my personal maid, helped me with my packages up to my room. "Berlina, tomorrow, I'm leaving to go out of town, and I need you to help me load up the car early tomorrow morning, around seven."

She nodded her head. "Yes ma'am. Do you need help packing, miss?" I shook my head. "No, I'll do that myself tonight."

"Very well. Would you like for me to tell the cook to prepare you something special?"

"Just tell Bart to prepare me something for on the road. I wanna leave as soon as I can." Berlina asked no more questions, and after getting the signal that was all, she proceeded to leave the room.

I walked over to my window, the window that overlooked the garden maze. My eyes traced the pattern, and own their own, sought out the little storybook cottage that sat on the edge. It was dark, and forlorn. No light spilling out of its windows, or smoke coming out of its chimney. Just still as if it were dead. A shudder went through me. _Oh, Troy. Why did you have to leave me? _But I very well knew the answer. The love we felt for each other was so strong, so unexpected at first. Our love was the kind that could test the change of time, that burned with passion and desire. I thought of the many months we snuck around, stealing every free moment we possibly could to succumb to our passion. Whenever we made love….it was like a fire that was burning internally in both of us that we tried so hard to tame. There was not way to deny our calling to each other's bodies.

Troy made love to me like no other [in other words, very different, and more pleasurable than Cal Dennison.   
A tear slid down my cheek unchecked. Damn Jillian for telling Troy the truth. The truth that was so wretched, that it should have repulsed me, but instead, made me want to hold on to Troy all the more in fear that he would turn me away. The fact that Troy was my uncle was not lost upon me. Nor was the fact that he had special ways turn me away from him. I loved him still.

Damn Jillian for her jealousness and obsessive control for eternal youth. Damn Tony for raping my mother, resulting in me without a mother's love and wisdom, and a forever band against the man I loved. And out of sheer anger and despair, I damned Troy for leaving me, when I knew he loved me, as did I love him.

I had no choice but to leave. The reasons that I told Tony the reason for my departure were true, but the real motivations behind them was the fact that it hurt too much to be on the property that Troy once inhabited. It hurt to see that lonesome cottage no longer with his presence, or the sound of him hammering away on his latest invention of a Tatterton original toy.

I had to get away from it all, and start anew. Only then would the sorrows I experienced here at the manor would only begin to disperse.


	3. New Beginnings

Here is the long awaited Chapter three. I posted it b/c i felt like it.

Chapter three

The trees flashed by me, the wind shifting through my dark hair through the drop top convertible that was my graduation present from Tony. I was free. For the first time, I finally felt free. And there was nobody or nothing that could stop me from doing the things that I wanted to do now. The first stop was to head back to were I grew up, Winnerrow, and to take up residence there and get a teaching job back at the same school that I attended all those long years earlier. I vowed that if it was the last thing I would do, I would win the respect of the people that shunned me and my disgruntled kin all those early years in the hills, just because our last name happened to be Casteel. They would see all the newfound wealth that I had acclaimed since my departure from Winnerrow, and they would be shocked to see a Casteel had risen up, no less. Oh, boy, if it was my last dying wish, I would see them with newfound respect in their eyes.

I had to admit, that I did feel secret pleasure in absorbing all the stares that I was collecting in my flashy white car and my dolled up to a tee appearance. I knew that they had no idea whom was, but already the gossip tree was already beginning to begin. They would gossip about me, and when they actually did discover who I actually was, the gossip will be too hot to pass up!

The first place that I headed to that I was quite eager to get to, was the school that I went to growing up. It was important that I get this teacher job, for it would be one of the many stepping stones that I had to step on to find myself. I wanted to give back to the kids that had no hope. The ones that were like me at their age, so self-conscious, constant despair, all because of who my family was and that we didn't have the money to even buy the best second hand clothes, much less enough food to keep us all fed! These children needed someone solid in their lives, someone that wouldn't give up as easily on them as so many people had before. I would be the exact same kind of teacher like Miss Deale. I frowned. I wondered whatever happened to Miss Deale. The last time that me, Tom, Fanny, Jane, and Keith had heard from Miss Marianne Deale, she had been on her way to visit her sick mother, and after that, no more. We never even received her Christmas presents that she had intended to send, but wasn't on account of some screw up at the shop, and they couldn't deliver.

Finally, I reached the school building where I spent many of my years trying to get an education that would finally bring me along with the Casteel name from the ground. For sure, Casteels would no longer be referred to as 'hill scum'. As I drove up, I discovered that after all that I had seen and experienced in my years away from Winnerrow, I found the school building lacking poorly in comparison, at least the general structure of it. The building itself was small, peeling paint, small parking lot, etc. Not a major deal, but I'm sure it saw better times. I pulled into the parking lot, putting the car in park and turning off the ignition. Self-conscious and not wanting to show up looking anything but professional, I primped myself up a little in the visor window, and got ready to make my big debut as the new Heaven Leigh Casteel.

Principal Meeks stared at me in shock, as just as soon as he seated me across from his desk in the plushy chair, I formally introduced myself to him, as one of his former students. Apparently, even over the many years that had passed, he still remembered poor little Heaven Casteel who was a sad sight to see, and now he was staring at this beautiful woman before him dressed as if she were somebody important, her white pantsuit with a very large diamond pennant hanging around her neck [another gift from Tony, various gold rings on her fingers [but not too much to make her fingers look cluttered down to her very expensive black stiletto hills that probably cost more than his salary. Her slightly tanned skin in perfect contrast with her richly black hair that curved invitingly to frame around her heart shaped face, her blue eyes betraying nothing of what lay within. It was obvious from his expression that he was aware that Heaven Leigh Casteel had come a very long way. And that she just reeked of money from the looks of things.

"Miss Casteel!" He said, quite flustered. "I'm so surprised-uh-happy to see you again."

I smiled slyly. "I bet you are, Principal Meeks." He seemed flustered, or either it was very hot in the room at the moment. And Heaven wasn't sweating at all, and she was wearing a pantsuit. "Please," he coaxed. "Call me Richard. Wow, Ms. Casteel, I must say I was quite shocked to realize that it was you and that it puzzled me for a bit. But I can see life has treated you well, has it not?"

I laughed silently in my mind. This was grand. Principal Meeks was babbling, and I just rejoiced in the way he said _Ms. Casteel._ A name he probably figured he would never had to mention again less it be in less complimenting tones. "Obviously Richard. Life couldn't be more grander now than it had been before," I said smoothly, my talk no longer of backwoods country talk, but with the slight speed and precision of a very well educated young woman. I noticed how his eyes kept darting from my face to my chests, and lingered a moment on the hands that flaunted some of my rings. Then his beady eyes darted back up to my face, and he flustered. He was more paunchy than he was years ago. A receding hairline of thin brown hair and a belly that was beginning to show strain against his shirt buttons no longer made him to hottest catch in this part of town. Not that he was in the first place anyway. "And please, call me Heaven," I said invitingly. I well knew how to lay on the charm that I learned over the years.

He cleared his throat. So, Heaven, what brings you back here?" He could have meant Winnerrow, or this school in particular, but I chose the latter. "To put it bluntly Richard, I'm here for a job. A teaching job to be most specifically." He certainly wasn't expecting that for his eyebrows shot up so fast and clearly, I thought they were going to meet his receding hairline. "A teaching job, _here_ at this school?"

I nodded. "Why, is there a problem? Are there no jobs available as of the moment?"

"No that is not the problem. In fact, we are as of right now looking for a teacher for the third grade. But it doesn't pay much," he offered, lamely.

I smiled. "Money I have Richard," I began, gaining so much glee in seeing the surprise in his face that such a Casteel could accumulate such wealth. "This, I want to do because I feel it in my heart that I should be here."

He nodded. "Well, do you have any creditals that could help back up your background in child education? Any type of degree at all?" This is where I could see he was truly curious as to what I would say.

I didn't say anything. I just pulled the Bachelor's degree that I received from my college at graduation out my tote that I had kept rolled up in a plastic to protect it from damage. I produced it to him, and he unraveled it. The degree more than made me capable for the job, no doubt about that. "I graduated in the top ten percent of my class at Radcliffe," I said, naming the very exclusive-and first rate-college. The name did not go well unnoticed by Principal Meeks. "Wow, Heaven. I'm truly shocked and really happy for you. I always knew you were such a promising student," he supplied. The compliment did not make it seem like a compliment at all, but instant groveling that was well veiled.

"So what I want to know is, can I have to job or not." He looked once more at my degree, and folded his hands on top of it. "Here's the deal Heaven. Looking at you accomplishments, I can well see that you are not qualified for this job, but in fact, over qualified. The pay is not that very well and I don't understand why you would come back to Winnerrow when we have nothing to offer."

I took the degree from his hand as he handed it back. "Leave the wondering and understanding to me, Mr. Meeks," I said. I had my own personal reasons for being back in Winnerrow, and it constituted on getting revenge.

He sighed, realizing that he was starting to piss me off now. "Well, if you want to job, then quite frankly, it is yours. I have utmost confidence in you that you will perform your absolute best."

I smiled a pageant winning smile, realizing the effect of a beautiful girl smiling at him all on his face. And the shame of it, for not only was he married, but he was attracted to a woman formerly known as 'hill scum'. "Thank you Principal Meeks. I will be looking forward to working with you," I said, choosing not to say 'under his authority' for he would believe that he would have the better hand.

"Please leave you contact information with Trudy at the front desk so that I can contact you in the future when needed be. There will be a mandatory faculty meeting in the last week of July and I expect to see you there. Kids will be arriving here at school the second week of August. And I believe that just about covers it. We will deal with the matter of moving you into the third grade classroom that you will be occupying for the school year in the next 2 weeks. Other than that, it is just the manner of you signing the contracts to make it all signed and legal"

I had to sign quite a few forms, for employment, health, salary, taking responsibility for the kids, blah blah blah.. But when I signed the last contract, I had a smile on my face. I was one step closer to my goal. "All right, then that will be all Ms. Casteel."

I stood up shaking his hand. "Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Meeks." I stood up and walked to the door, but I turned back around.

"Principal Meeks, I just have one more question," I said, thinking about something that often occupied my mind, and I needed to hear the answer.

"Sure. What's knocking on your noggin?"

I ignored his pun. "What ever happened to Miss Deale? Marianne Deale?" I really wanted to know what ever happened to the kindly teacher that had practically taken my siblings and I under her wing. Over the time of my youth, I had grown to love her like a mother, the mother that I was robbed of the day of my birth. To my young mind, she was my role model. And in a way, she still was. She was the type of person that saw beyond exteriors and got to know the person within.

"Marianne Deale? Why I haven't thought about her in years! Last time I heard from her was about…maybe ten or eleven years ago. She had taken a brief leave of absence due to her mother being ill. I remember that she came back briefly for a bit to collect her things here and such, since she was moving from here. Her mother had died, and she wanted to move back closer to home.

I grew slightly sick inside. That was around the time me, Tom, Fanny, Keith and Jane had received a note from Miss Deale of the condition of her mother, and that she wouldn't be there with us. I remembered that it was at Christmas time because we were waiting for presents in the mail from here that we never gotten, for there was some sort of screw up at the mail office.

"It was such a disappointment to lose such a talented teacher that was dedicated to her job and her students. She truly was an admirable woman/" I noticed that dreamy look that over came his face and eyes, and suddenly, I had the feeling that he was more fascinated with Miss Deale than an employer should have been with his employee. Hopefully, Miss Deale had did nothing on her part to encourage this (in my heart, I had a feeling that she didn't), for not only Mr. Meeks was a married man at that time (still was in fact), but if she had done something so…wrong, I had a scary feeling that it might have made me admire her a little less.

"Do you happen to know where she is now?" I wanted to contact her still even after all these years, so we could at least sit down and chat about all that had happened in our lives ever since the day I was sold off like a slave.

He shook his head. "All I know is that her home is up north, somewhere around New Jersey or so. Or maybe it was New York. I don't know, but its been at least a decade, and she could have moved long since then.

I nodded, having all the information that I needed. I would use whatever resources that I had to find her, for I had the money to pay whatever it would cost for such a request. I thanked Principal Meeks and left.

I walked out of that school with my head held up high, a happy gait in my walk. I had crossed the first stepping stone in my new life. _I'm doing it Troy!_ I though gleefully in my mind. _I'm one step closer to my goal._

I drove around town aimlessly, more looking around to see how much the town had changed than anything. OF course, I wasn't oblivious to the stares and the speculation that was coming my way on account of the very expensive way I rose into Winnnerrow in my expensive car.

The town hadn't changed a lot, but quite noticeably in all the years of my absence. More businesses as well as homes had sprouted up, and people were just moseying along on the sidewalks, enjoying the sunny and peaceful Tuesday morning. I past in front of Stonewall Pharmacy, and for some reason, I parked in front of the store, just staring. I instantly though of Logan, and how he would steal things from his father's pharmacy for me and my siblings. Simple things that he thought nothing of in his daily life, but were a luxury in the cabin in the hills that I had grown to hate while growing up there.

Logan. I though back to the time that I had seen Logan was years ago, back when I was a senior at the exclusive private girl's academy, and I had bumped into him on the sidewalk. I remembered the pain that I had experienced when I realized that he had not recognized me, and how he chose not to acknowledge me. I well remembered the bitter conversation we had in the coffee shop, with his jealous girlfriend looked on. How he could have any girlfriend for the matter since I was still in love with him then, was breaking my heart at the time. After that day, I had never seen or spoken to him again. And then I had fell in love with my Tory, also known as my uncle.

I should have felt dirty in loving my uncle, my love for him sexually and romantically should have instantly been turned off for I should have been very repulsed. Bit I wasn't, and I didn't. For my love for him continued on even after his departure, and now I only experienced pain in his departure, hurt that he would choose to run away and just leave me here with a note on the table and a broken heart. Damn Jillian for coming in between us, and telling Troy the truth before I could. Damn Tony for raping my mother, making me an abomination that my father could not stand. Damn Logan for keeping me away from my fiancé to take care of me during the storm [but for I had to admit I was grateful for, for I would have surely killed myself on the road. And Damn Troy for being weak and running off before I could talk to him, leaving like a thief in the night.

But as I damned him in my mind, I knew that I could not damn him in my heart, for my love for Troy continued to swell exceptionally in my heart. And I knew truthful in my heart I could not blame him for running off. Troy was always sensitive to things and to have a bombshell dropped on him without the one that he loved near, it must have been true torture and unbearable. For the woman he loved and made love to every night was not his brothers step-granddaughter, but his child. And to Troy, I was his niece. Forbidden. I cried for Troy's hurt soul, wishing he were near so that I could heal it.

I don't know how long I sat there staring off into space, but the presence of another person near me startled me, and I looked up to see who it was. My mouth was dry. Logan.

He stood there in all his dark Viking glory. His dark hair was longer than I remembered, a tossed look to it. His dark eyes coolly assessed me, betraying nothing. I shivered, in terrifying delight. "Logan," I said softly. I hadn't seen him in so long. His body looked tall and forbidden as he neared the car.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, instead of a polite greeting. My face fell. He was still mad with me. The last time I had seen Logan was before Troy had left. I had come back to Winnerrow for a brief visit, and had wound up getting sick. Logan had to help nurse me back to help, but keeping me away from Troy for the longest days of my life in the process. I thought back to my thoughts and feelings, how I should have been grateful that Logan was helping me and polite as well as gracious, but instead, I treated him meanly, snapping back at him, much the same manner as of a rabid dog, minus the foaming mouth.

"I've come home." I said simply. His eyebrow quirked. "Home? Last time I remembered, your home was a mansion, with your new family, and that fiancé of yours." His words bit at me and the stung, especially since he mentioned Troy in the literal sense. I held my head down briefly, not meeting his eyes. "I'm not engaged anymore."

He was silent. "Oh? Well what happened, wait let me guess. You broke up with him? Or was it the other way around?"

I glared at him. "That is _none _of your business!"

He smirked. "A little testy we are on the subject, aren't we? Well, you should just forget about Trudy."

"His name is Troy and you know that just perfectly well Logan Stonewall! Why are you so mean to me lately? Is there something about me that you just don't like?"  
He leaned against my car, his arms folded against his chest. "Oh I'll tell you what I don't like about you. I don't like the fact is that you've changed Heaven Leigh Casteel. Or should I say Heaven Leigh Tatterton?"

I got out of the car, slammed the door, and stood to him head to head. Or should I say head to shoulder. I had to tilt my head up to glare into his eyes. "My name is Heaven Leigh Casteel, and I'm the same Heaven that I've been ever since. Only now, I'm not poor and have a degree behind my name, and it just kills you that I don't need to depend on you for my every needs anymore. Is that just it Logan? That you fell out of love with me because you no longer had to resort to stealing such simple things such as a bar of soap from your father's pharmacy for me?"

His eyes spat fire at me. "That is just not fair and not the issue here. You roll back in town with your fancy Mercedes Benz, and your expensive clothes and jewelry," he flung a hand to gesture at what he was talking about. "What are you trying to prove Heaven? I'll tell you what you're trying to do. Your trying to shove it in people's faces that you have all this money, more than anyone around here probably, and that you are not the one on the wrong end of the stick here. You're trying to show people that you are different Heaven, and you are doing a fine job of that!

I opened my mouth to get a word in, but he started talking again. "You are not the same Heaven that I fell in love with all those years ago. You talk different. You walk different. You even act different! Sure you are all glammed up right now with all your make-up and your fancy hair, but whatever happened to that girl in the hills? That girl that wasn't so concerned with what she wore or what her hair looked like. That girl worked everyday to make life better for her and her family."

I stared him deeply into his eyes, my frustration building up. "That girl on the hills, also know as _hill scum_ is dead. She is not forgotten, but she is dead. That girl did not worry about such trivial matters that matter to girls because that girl never had the luxury to focus on such matters. And I never want to be that woman again. I don't want to know what it feels like to feel every inch of poverty, the hungry and cold nights, the father that barely cared. I had to take on a lot of responsibility on my shoulders back then, much too much for a child back then. Not to mention the added pressure of the people here that disapproved of us, believing that we were lower than dirt. And they still do, sadly. People can be so stupid. But now that I've come a long way with my _fancy car_ and _fancy clothes_," I bit those words purposely at him, watching him flinch. "Not to mention a degree behind my name, they only _have _to think differently not only about me, but about my whole family."

He sighed. "And you will get certain satisfaction from these people thinking differently about you?"

"_Yes_," I stressed. That was the whole point of all of this!"

"I thought the whole point of this was to prove to yourself most importantly. I remembered when we were younger, you use to say that the opinions of other people didn't matter much. As long as you had somebody there by your side."

I shook my head. "What did you expect me to say back then Logan! Sure it's true, but it still hurts to have people just resent you because of your name. But I wouldn't' expect you to know how that feels Logan, for everybody just _loved_ your family."

He growled at me. "That is not fair. Let's not fight about this. How long is your visit here?"

"What's it to you," I said childishly. He sighed a weary sigh. "Look, I'm not trying to pick a fight with you Heaven. Can we go on talking like two friends?"

After a stubborn moment, I nodded. "I'm not visiting Logan. I home for good. Or at least until I have a reason to leave." His eyebrow raised in surprised. "Are you serious?"

"As serious as a heart attack. I just in fact finished signing up for a teaching job at the school. I'll be starting in August," I told him proudly. He grinned crookedly. "That's great, Heaven. But why are you coming back?"

I was silent for a moment. "I have to make peace with myself, find a purpose. There's more to life than just sitting idly around, when you could be helping somebody. So what better way than to help students that are in the same position that I was in years ago?"

He nodded understandingly. "Well, where are you going to stay? I see you have a some things in the backseat," he gestured to my car.

"I have more in my trunk," I supplied. "I plan on staying at the cabin, you know, since its been refurnished and nobody's using it for the moment since Grandpa is living with Pa and Tom."

Logan appeared uneasily. "The cabin is not exactly unoccupied. Fanny's there." If my eyes weren't securely stuck in my head, I for sure would have thought they would have shot out of my head. "Fanny's here? For how long has she been here?" I knew nothing of this arrangement, nor of her change in residence. She never wrote to tell me anything. But for that, I wasn't much surprised, for Fanny and I were never really that close, for she always seemed to be jealous of me in some way that prevented us from being as close as two loving sisters should be. But no matter how crappy Fanny treated me, I still loved her as my sister.

"She's been here for about a month. I've visited her a couple of times to check in on her and it seems like she's doing ok." I thought nothing of it, perhaps because I wasn't looking into it, but I saw that he'd avoided my eyes as he said this.

"The last time I knew of, Fanny was still living in that apartment, with me paying her rent! And she had the nerve of having me to pay for this month also even though she did not even consider telling me of her change in address. She probably had her mail forward here, so she could pick up whatever spare money I could give her." That's what Fanny and I were fighting about 2 months ago: money. Or specifically her lack of money and my abundance in it. Fanny had always been money hungry, even when we were younger. She would cry for things she knew we could not get, and do sexual favors at the young age of seven to get money! She had no same of exploiting her body, and I believe that is how she paid for her apartment before I stepped in and decided to pay her rent for her. Sarah, Tom, Fanny, Keith, and Jane's mother said Fanny was a born whore through and through. And that there was nothing that I could do to stop it.

"Sounds like Fanny. She may have been in a money jam." I scoffed. "Fanny is always in a money jam. The problem is that with her, she can never have enough and she doesn't know how to save or stretch it out. She needs to start earning her own way in life instead of expecting to live off of everyone else. Especially me." I shook my head. "I need to head up there and see what's up, for I have a feeling that I'll be having a roommate longer than I expected."

I opened my car door and slid into the seat, closing the door behind me. "When will I be seeing you again?" he asked, bracing his hands on the door after I started the ignition. I paused and peered up at him. His light brown eyes were staring intently down into my own, revealing nothing, but something about his gaze put me off. "I don't know. I guess around town or whatever."

"How about I take you out for dinner tonight?" he suggested. My hackles went up. For certain I could not go out on a date with a man after I still had fresh wounds after Troy's departure. He must have seen me about to protest for he pleased with me now. "Please come Heaven. We haven't seen each other in a while and we should catch up. Besides, I don't know if you realize, but I have never not once taken you out to dinner in our lives." He did have a point there.

"It's too soon…Troy…" I faltered off. Was it just me, or did his face harden at the mention of Troy's name? Then he said a bit darkly. "It won't be a date, just a causal dinner between friends. I doubt your Troy would protest against that, despite the fact that you are no longer engaged to him."

My heart hurt, for he called him 'my Troy', but now, Troy was no longer mine to claim. I nodded my head after a moment. "Yes. I'll go to dinner with you tonight."

He smiled a tight smile. "Good. I'll pick you up at the cabin around seven. " and then he was off just like that. After a moment of staring off after him, I put my car in drive and horded my way towards the cabin.

I parked my car in front of the cabin, but not getting out just yet. The cabin had been remodeled again sometime during the time that I had been gone from here. Originally, it was to suit for grandpa's needs, and make things easier for him by getting it up to date, but ever since he left to go live where Pa, his new wife Shellie, and Tom, the cabin had been unoccupied. But that was until Fanny showed up. I sighed, getting out of the car, not wanting to deal with Fanny at the moment, but I knew that I would have to sooner or later. I left my stuff in the car. I would unpack it all later.

I let myself in the front door with the copy of the key that was kept underneath the mat. I wouldn't let myself put it there no more since I was going to live here for a while. I opened the door. "Fanny?" I hollered in the silence after I closed the door. It was a little warm in here, since the a/c wasn't turned on [a long way from way back then….we weren't even blessed with the utility of a/c. I hear someone coming down the stairs and saw my sister.

Fanny was just as beautiful as ever. Fanny didn't have an everyday beauty about her, but more of an exotic one, with her ebony hair that contrasted beautifully with her equally almost black eyes. Her fair skin gave her the appearance of a delicate, exquisite flower, but I knew more than anyone that fanny was _not _delicate.

"Well, well, well…" she drawled, a smirk coming to the side of her mouth. "If it isn't my dear sister Heaven. How did you know that I was here?"

"Logan told me," I said, folding my arms, angry that she had the nerve to just stand there like nothing at all was wrong.

Her eyes seemed to light up at the mention of Logan's name, and her smirk turned into a full grown grin. "_Logan_ did? Well, that isn't much of a surprise. He has been here a lot lately, _helping _me in more ways than one," she said suggestively. I knew instantly what she was doing, and if she thought she was going to get a rise out of me, then she'd be waiting for a very long time. Though I could only imagine what she and Logan did in this cabin. I no longer knew Logan as the same boy he had been all those years ago. And that Logan from long ago would have _never _paid any attention to Fanny. Just to be on the safe side, I mentally reminded myself to change the sheets on the bed whichever I decided to occupy during my residence here.

I ignored her bait. "Fanny, what are you doing here? I though you still was in that apartment in New York."

She smiled, and sat down in the chair, crossing her legs, which made the already short skirt rise up even higher. I couldn't help but believe that I was sadly lacking next to Fanny. She oozed sex appeal and I couldn't even identify mine sometimes.

"Oh, that. I was going to tell you about that sooner or later. But Heaven, things were just so rough in New York, that I just _had _to come home. I couldn't stand that city any longer." She pouted. I had to admit, Fanny knew exactly how to put on the dramatics at the right moment. I wondered why she never got a job with acting, for she was really good at that, I though sarcastically.

"So, for the past month, or however long you were holed up in this house, you had me send you a $700 dollar check to your New York address that God knows what you did with?"

"Oh, I had all my mail forwarded here before I left," she said breezily. "So, my dear sister, what brings you back to these neck of the woods?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm moving back here." If I didn't think they were attached to her forehead, I swear her perfectly arched eyebrows would leap off her forehead. "Whaatt?" she screeched. "Are you serious? Your leaving the rich life for this?" she gestured around her. "Heaven, I really never knew that you were really that stupid."

I felt my blood simmer. "Fanny, I am not stupid. As a matter of fact, I just recently graduated from college, an invitation that I sent you that you did not even _bother _to respond to," I said pointedly. I understood why Tom couldn't make it, barely, but nevertheless did. But Fanny didn't come at all just out of plain hatefulness.

"I had other things to do," she said nonchalantly. She examined her nails as if I weren't even worth her time.

"Like what?" I spat. I was sick of Fanny's jealousy and her constant ways of trying to hurt me. "There is nothing more important that you couldn't have put off here than to see your own sister graduate. I wanted you there Fanny. But you didn't care enough to be there."

Her eyes flashed at me. "Like you didn't care enough for to send me more money to tide me over?"

I groaned. "Oh, so this is what it's about? You're mad because I would send you more money than you already needed. It wasn't enough that I paid your rent or you, or I bought other stuff for you, and I got nothing in return from you. No gratefulness, no love, no nothing! Just your ever growing greed that clouds your eyes with green, seeing nobody's pain but your own." My words got harsher as I spoke.

All of a sudden, Fanny's eyes clouded with unshed tears. "How can you think that way about me Heaven? How could you even think that?" She got up and rushed over to me, hugging me tightly by the waist. The force slightly threw me off balance. "Of course I love you Heaven! Its just that you have much more money than I do, millions in fact, and all I asked was just a piece of it," she whined. "Just to tie me over."

I sighed deeply. Would money ever _not _be the most important in Fanny's eyes? "I don't have millions, Fanny. My mother's parents have millions. I just accept what they decide to give me."

"And they'll give you however much you want," she whined again, leaning back and staring me straight into my eyes, her dark ones battling with my own blue ones. "Fanny, enough. You are basically making me sick with all this talk of money. Why must you be the only one in this family that must depend upon somebody else? Tom has found his purpose, so have Keith and Jane. When are you going to wake up Fanny, and realize that people can't take care of you and deal with your crap your whole life?"

All at once, the mask of malice was back, and she coldly backed away from me. "Oh, I see how you want to be Heaven. You just wanna hog up all the millions for yourself. Well, I don't need any of your stinkin' money. You ain't all that special anyway, I can get my money elsewhere. You want me to sell my body, is that what you want me to do?" I flinched at the anger in her voice, the barbs in her words. "No Fanny, don't do that, its disgusting."

"That's exactly what you want me to do! How do you think I barely got by before you came to New York Heaven, hmmm? You're not that naïve are you? Men have certain needs Heaven. Certain needs that need to be quenched by a real woman. And I'm more than happy to provide the service." She saw how her words effected me, how I kept wincing from it all. She smiled a cold smile and advanced on. "A _real _woman Heaven. Not some simple bodied who doesn't know anything about sex if it would hit her in the face. Why, I'm more than qualified in that department, more than you ever will. Just ask Logan." And with that, she flaunted up the stairs, her hair trailing behind her.

I stood there in the middle of the living room, hurt by her callousness in her words and how she could be so mean. I sighed. Would Fanny and I get along without killing each other here?

At five minutes to seven, I was running around like a mad woman, trying to get dressed at the last moment. I stopped long enough in front of the mirror, fixing my black simple dress with an A-line and making sure my hair was in place, just as soon as the doorbell was ringing. I had to admit to myself I literally looked like a million bucks, with my jewelry, and my contrasting beauty. Then I ran-or something similar to running in stilettos-to the front door, opening it to find Logan on the other side. "Hi," I said, smiling warmly.

"Hi," he returned. "You look beautiful." I could see in his eyes that he truly meant it, and all our past confrontations flew straight out of the window at that moment. I saw his eyes cloud with desire and I blushed, never seeing that look in Logan's eye, but I was well adept and old enough to recognize that look. I wasn't naïve anymore when it came to sex, and if Logan's eyes were a hint, he wanted me in bed more than a little.

"Umm," I said clumsily, confused at how I felt about him. "Why don't you come wait in the living room while I get my purse and coat?" He followed me obligingly into the living room and I left him there as I darted up the stairs to my room to grab my purse and coat. I passed the dresser mirror and I stopped for a moment, taking in all the glamour that I had gone through this afternoon. Was it too much, I thought, my hand lightly touching the pearls at my neck, the matching studs in my ear. I looked as if I were going on a date instead of dinner between friends.

I felt a pang in my heart, as if I were betraying Troy in some way, as if I were freely giving up my hold on him and allowing another man to come between us. I couldn't just turn off my feelings for Troy, that I knew, for I would forevermore love him. But it was time that I moved on, for it had been three years since I had last seen Troy. And I couldn't let my heart pine away for him, for something that would never be.

With a resolute sigh, I grabbed my purse and coat, forced a smile on my face-which wasn't that hard in fact-and practically skipped down the stairs. And I stopped abruptly at the foot of the stairs, the scene that was being displayed before my eyes. Fanny naked as the day she was born right in front of Logan.

I knew she had just gotten out of the shower, for water glisten off her back and pinned up hair. "Fanny!" I exclaimed angrily. "Have you no shame?" I knew exactly what she was doing, something she tried to pull very long ago. She was trying to entice Logan from me, that I very much knew, and the smirk on her mouth and in her eyes was evidence enough. "Why Heaven, I'm ashamed in you. I just got out the shower and was stunned to find Logan here, nothing else, dear sister." Oh Fanny was a master at manipulation, for she knew exactly what she was doing and how it looked. She in fact knew of my dinner with Logan tonight because, stupid me, I had told her.

What furriated me more was that Logan would not stop staring at her body, then at the mention of my name, he guiltily looked up at me, his cheeks flushing irately. "Fanny, go put on some clothes, you are not only embarrassing yourself, but you are embarrassing Logan," I said firmly. When would Fanny ever grow up? It was like the time when I was 13 and she stripped off her dress and paraded nude in front of Logan. I still never forgotten that, how she could be so cruel as to try to steal my first love away from me, and she had all the guys running behind her at school.

"Oh, I highly doubt that Heaven. I'm pretty sure Logan doesn't object," she said, flashing him a wink. And with that, she sauntered out of the living room up the stairs, going as slowly and tauntingly as possible. Logan's eyes followed her hungrily. Anger flared up in me for being dismissed so quickly. "Oh, why don't you crawl in bed with her Logan, and forget about our dinner," I said haughtily.

That guilty look came again. "I'm sorry Heaven, but she just showed up down here without any clothes on…" he trailed off. "I'm a red blooded male, what do you expect?" He said desperately.

I shook off his pleading. "It doesn't matter Logan. Let's just leave." He helped me to put my coat over my dress-which didn't have sleeves-and I didn't object. He led me to his car and opened the passenger door for me. I got in obligingly.


	4. Old faces

Chapter Four

"So, why did you want to leave from wherever you were to come back to this hick town? May I remind you that I _still_ do not know where you live? I asked Tom but he ain't tell me nothing," Fanny said sourly next to me in the car.

I had to restrain myself from physically from straining Fanny. It had been like this nonstop ever sense we left Winnerrow. We were heading to Georgia to visit Tom, Grandpa, and Pa, myself once and for all trying to reunite our family.

I had invited Fanny along, to make the family reuninon more complete, and I had to admit that I was surprised that Fanny wanted to come. I guess that selfishness in her succumbed to good nature.

But ever since we left the house, she had been drilling me nonstop about my life, how much money my mother's parents had, what I bought, why I never bought her anything, etc. Her whole being revolved around money, as always, and her greed sickened me.

"Fanny, _please_," I exasperated. "All I want to do is get to Pa's home in one piece. Can't you talk about that? About the prospect of finally having our family together once and for all? As a matter of fact, I had seem Keith and Jane at my graduation, you know the one _you _decided not to come to?"

Fanny grumbled. "Who cares about them?"

I flashed a shocked look at her. "Fanny! They are our younger brother and sister!"

"Ah, boo hoo! They were nuttin' but trouble when we were youngins and all they did was cry and complain. Us being sold had to been the best thing that happened in our miserable lives. Of course, I bet they got put in a better home then I did," she grumbeled.

I felt a little sadness towards Fanny's sympathy. "It must have been intimidating and frightening that the Reverend was….well…you know…"

"Having sex with me?" she said bluntly. I felt my cheeks heat a bit at her bluntness. She laughed a wretched laugh.

"Oh Heaven, I bet you're still a virgin are you? Ain't go git no man with that shyness," she snickered.

_Oh, Fanny, if you only knew,_ I thought. I decided to disclose Troy and I's nights of passion away from her. She didn't need to know that. I don't care if she assumed the fact that I was still a virgin.

"It doesn't matter Fanny. But you should have gone to somebody, the police, _me_, do you know I tried for months to contact you only to have that wretched woman turn me away every time? If only I knew…."

"It wasn't so bad. At least the Reverend was a good lay."

I was appalled. "Fanny! How could you say so of the guy that took you in-"

"You mean bought me?" She said pointedly.

She had a point. "But he got you pregnant Fanny, and proceeded to take away your child."

She shrugged. "He didn't give me the offer of money. And I took it. I wish I would have bargained for more though. $10,000 wasn't enough apparently."

I felt sickened. "Fanny, please stop it. I thought you'd feel at least some remorse over the lost of your child."

She shrugged. "I guess I did."

I shook my head. "Let's just concentrate on getting to Pa's place in peace."

Fanny smiled smugly then. "Why are you so anxious? I hope you don't think Pa's gonna welcome you with open arms? If you remember correctly Heaven, I was the one that Pa loved the most remember? He didn't care to pay you any attention."

I felt my heart sting at the barb. How could Fanny be so purposely hurtful? But I couldn't help but recognize the truth in her words. Pa did exhibit more affection towards Fanny than I.

I pressed my lips grimily and continued to drive towards our destination.

We arrived in Georgia the next morning and drove down the street which Tom told me was their new home.

"Wowee. This sure is a fancy neighborhood. Are you sure Pa lives here?"

Fanny was right. This really was a nice neighborhood. Not the nicests that I had seen, but still pretty nice. Suburban like. The kind I dreamed about living in when I was younger.

"This was the street gave me. The address is…" I fumbled around in my purse for the letter which he wrote me with the address on it. "Here it is…223…there it is," I pointed out.

I turned into the driveway which was empty of a car. I put the car in park in the driveway and just sat there looking at the house. It was a single story beige house with white trimming. The lawn was perfect with a red plastic toy truck sitting out in the middle it.

"Wow. Nice house," Fanny remarked. "Not as nice as the Reverend's house, but it ranks up there." She hopped out of the car, making my teeth grit at the way she just climbed over the door like a monkey, her shoes imprinting dirt tracks into my leather seat.

I followed her lead and opened the door, following her to the front door. She had already pressed the doorbell, and after a few seconds had passes, she rang it two more times.

I slapped her hand away from the doorbell, hissing, "Give someone a chance the come to the door first before you go nuts on the doorbell."

She stuck her tongue out at me, grimacing.

A woman opened the door with a startled smile on her face. "Hello, can I help you?" she asked. She had a southern accent to her voice which seemed perfect for this side of the country.

She was pretty, kind of ordinary. Not striking like some people that I had seen before. She was shorter than I, and blonde. Her blue eyes danced merrily and laugh lines appeared by her mouth when she smiled.

"Hello, My name is Heaven and this is my sister Fanny," I spoke up before Fanny did. "We're here to see our P-Father, Luke Casteel."

The woman suddenly turned serious, the merriment drifting out of her eyes, but the smile still on her face, only not with oblivious curiosity. I had a feeling that this woman knew exactly who we are.

She cleared her throat. "Wow. I finally get to meet the children of Luke that I've been hearing so much about. Come in!" she gestured, opening the door further.

I stepped through the door and was swarmed with all of the furnishings inside of the house. She walked us through the house and I took notice of all the pictures on the wall and tables. Several of them featured the woman, and a man whose face I would recognize from anywhere.

_Pa_, I thought painfully. Even though in the pictures his hair had streaks of grey in them, I would recognize that face anywhere. That daring and handsome face that drove women mad with sexual need, the need to have him. Those mischievous eyes that carried within his secrets. Oh how I wanted to hate him, him and his stupid attractive face. But I couldn't. I couldn't' help but long to have Pa look at me with something other than resentment in his eyes.

I couldn't' help but notice how happy he looked with this woman who answered the door. They shared secret looks in every picture, a look filled with love. My heart squeezed as I glanced at one of him in a tux, and her in a bridal gown.

_They were married_, I concluded. The man who I knew almost nothing about, yet still so much, had married another woman.

_And they obviously had a child_, I thought with bitterness. If not evidence of the toys scattered about the living room, the family portrait of them was clue enough.

"Excuse me for the mess. Our son has been taking out every toy he owns and has been leaving it everywhere."

"Who are you," Franny said bluntly, and slight of rudely. So apparently she had noticed the portraits of Pa and the unnamed woman. I could have kicked her for being so rude, but also kiss her for showing the emotion which I wanted to show as well. Seeing Pa married to another woman had unnerved me as well.

She giggled like a little girl. "Oh, I'm sorry. How rude of me. My name is Stacie Darling…well Casteel now. I'm married to your father."

"I see," Fanny said snidely. "Why I didn't even know _Pa _was even married. Figures…couldn't stay away from women long enough…always chasing after one after 'nother."

I could see the woman visibly flinch and I knew that was uncalled for from Fanny. "Well…it's a shock to us both because we were unaware of the fact that our father was remarried."

Stacie nodded. "We have been for five years."

"Looks like you have a son too," I remarked. Only a blind person would miss how much the little boy in the picture look so much like Pa.

She nodded. "Yes. Our son, Drake. Who is the reason for all this mess down here.," she said, referring to all the toys scattered about her living room. But she didn't look mad. In fact, she had a slight smile to her mouth as if she enjoyed having a mess in her living room. "We were just playing hide and seek. I believe that he's hiding right now."

I cast a quick glance toward Fanny, and I saw that she was getting ready to explode. She was glaring daggers at Stacie, and Stacie seemed a bit oblivious to it.

"He's beautiful," I remarked.

"Looks just like Pa," Fanny commented. Stacie agreed with her. "Yes, that he does. Takes after Luke too. Would you two like to sit? Can I get you some snacks? Drinks?"

"Got any Vodka?" Fanny said dryly. I elbowed her in the ribs hard. Leave it to Fanny to be the least civilized person.

Stacie shook her head. "No. We don't drink in our home. Perhaps a soda?"

Fanny snorted. "Hmm. Must drive Pa up a wall not being able to drink in his own damn house."

I saw the shocked look flash across Stacie's face at Fanny's snide comments and I felt guilty. "Actually, if it would just be possible that we could see Tom or Grandpa, or…Pa? That was the main reason for our visit."

If it was one thing I was good at, it was carrying on a conversation more smoothly. If I expected to spare this poor woman some of Fanny's outrageous outburst, then I best take her out of Fanny's presence.

"Well your father and brother are all down at the circus and your grandfather is at Miss Aggies."

_Circus? Miss Aggies?_ I thought, confusion clouding my brain.

"The circus? And who is Miss Aggie?" I asked her. Fanny seemed interested in knowing the answer too because she dropped her hostility and stepped forward to listen more.

"The circus is not far from here. Just two miles from here. You'll turn left on Lexington when you leave her, then follow down the main road till you get to a big sign advertising the circus. It'll be the only section off the road with a bunch of tents and such. Now Miss Aggie, she's about 5 miles _up _the road. You'll have to go back towards town to get to her. She runs a boarding house, and your grandfather has been staying there a while with her."

My head was spinning. Tom had never mentioned any of _this_. He had some major explaining to do. "Thank you," I said politely. "If you will excuse us, we'll make our way down to this…circus."

"Oh, ok. Well, I appreciate you stopping by. Don't hesitate to do so sooner. We would love to have you stay with us. We have enough room. Or even come to dinner. Maybe you can dine with us tonight?"

I shook my head. "We don't really know how long we're staying in town. But thank you for the offer."

She shook her head. "Nonsense. You're family." I couldn't help but flinch at the reference.

"Well thank you anyway. " I dragged Fanny with me out the door and into the car. As we backed out of the driveway, I saw Stacie stare out at us with a slightly pained expression on her face that I couldn't interpert. But that expression of her standing in the door with her hand slightly outstretched and that expression on her face stuck in my mind.

Why in the world are we at a circus? Not even a big one neither," remarked Fanny as we pulled up to the gates of the tied of circus area.

"I don't know Fanny. But something tells me that we'll find out soon enough." There wasn't anyone at the main gate to stop us; inside it was a whole different story. Or should I say _place_. People were walking this way and that, chatting at each other as they did so. I even saw a couple of chickens and pigs running about. But something about the people struck me as odd.

"Excuse me," I said, stopping a woman that was passing us. Or at least I though she was a woman until she turned around. Was that a _real _beard that she was wearing?

"Hello, honey. You're kinda early. The show doesn't start until seven tonight."

"Oh, no. We're not here for the show. We've here looking for our brother, Tom Casteel. Is he here?"

"So you're Tommy boy's sisters?" She exclaimed. The voice seemed odd coming from a person that look like her. You know, a woman with a beard that was as long as Santa Clauses.

I nodded dutifully. Fanny just stood there popping her gum loudly.

"Well then I'll be! Luke must be yer daddy!" she concluded. I gave a tight lipped smile and a slight nod. "Yes. There is that relation."

"My oh my," her voice chimed like a little girl. "What a small world this here must be! How nice for you both to come out here to support yer daddy. I know that you ain't from around here. Got the city look all over the both of yers."

"What's this about a show?" Fanny broke in abruptly. "We ain't know nothing about a show. W's only come cuz Heaven said so. Why's he here at a stupid circus?"

The woman's bushy eyebrows quirked up. "Honey, you don't know that yer father is the owner of the circus?" Our bewildered expressions must have been clue enough. "Oh dear," she muttered.

"We haven't been in contact in so long," I began, trying to make it sound less bad than it was. I didn't want a total stranger knowing all about our history. But thankfully she cut me off with welcoming words.

"I don't need to know yer private business. I mind my own. But to give you a bit of background, yer father bought this circus almost five years ago. Yer brother Tom helps him too. Like tonight, they'll be doing the main attraction, the lion taming."

My face instantly drained of blood and she must have taken in my ashen complexion for she muttered 'Oh dear' again.

"There I go with my foot in my mouth again. How's about you go find your father and brother. They're over there in that big blue tent practicing. Now if you'll excuse me, but I have a date with a cow."

We followed her directions and went into the blue tent. The first thing I noticed was the ferocious lion in the cage. The second thing I noticed was a single person standing next to it. I would have noticed that red hair or that stance anywhere. "Tom!" I hollered.

Tom turned around and a wide grin broke out onto his face. I took several steps forward before the lion growled at me and I obligingly took a step back.

His blue jean overall clad body came over to us. "Heaven!" He exclaimed, sweeping me up in his strong embrace. He had gotten taller, I noticed.

"Fanny," he greeted, hugging her as well. "I didn't expect to see you here."

She snorted. "What? You think Heaven's the only one that cares about her ol' family?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Fanny. It is good to see you here."

"And speaking of 'here', Tom, when were you going to tell us Pa owned a circus Tom? And the fact that you are working with him? I thought you said you were going to school," I sharply accused him.

He blushed as red as his hari. "I was going to tell you about that. I've been working with Pa for a while now with the circus. And I like it."

"But what about school Tom? I seriously doubt that you can get a degree in being a circus clown," I protested. His face had lost all its merriment now, for it had a serious overcast look to it.

"I never was made out for school-" he began, but I abruptly cut him off.

"Nonsense, Tom! You always went to school when we were younger. More than I did even, for I had to take care of Keith and Jane."

"No Heaven," he cut me off. "Let me finish. Now yes, I did go to school on because you motivated me to, and I wanted to make you proud. But the truth be told, I never was made out for school. You were. _And-_" he added for emphasis, signaling for me to stop interrupting him. "I nvere was that good at any of it. I actually hated school. I went those days when you stayed home with Keith and Jane because I wanted to help bring you up to par."

"But you told me that you were going to take your college entrance exams. Whatever happened to that promise?"

He looked down at his shoes, then stared me back directly in the eye. "I did take them."

I nodded and pushed him further. "And?"

He glared at me. "I failed them, ok? I wasn't smart enough to pass them."

Fanny snickered. I glared at her warningly. She didn't have room to say anything on account on the fact hat she didn't even finish middle school. "Shut up Fanny."

"I didn't even say anything," she said innocently.

I turned back to Tom. "Well, you just have to climb back on the bandwagon and take them again. This time I can help you to prepare, and-"

"STOP IT HEAVEN! JUST STOP IT!" He shouted. I leaned back, abashed. Tom had never yelled at me before.

He dug his toe into the sand. "Sorry," he muttered. "But please stop trying to control my life."

My jaw dropped. "Control your life? I'm not trying to control your life Tom. Is that what you think I'm doing?"

"That's what it _feels_ like. I can't breathe. I know that you want what you think is best for me, but working here at the circus is what makes me truly happy. It overrides trying to make you happy."

Tears welled in my eyes. He jumped when he saw them. "NO! Don't think that Heaven. I still love you. I will always love you. But I need to make myself happy. College wouldn't make me happy. It's time that you accepted that."

I was silent for a few seconds, tears silently leaking down my face. How could I miss the signs of this happening to my own brother? Damn Pa for splitting us all apart and selling us to strangers with the highest bid.

"But…I always thought-" My throat clogged up. He embraced me. "I know what you thought Heaven. And I never stood to correct you. But it isn't so bad! Look at you, for you've done us Casteels proud! You graduated from college, something that wasn't expected of us lowlifes."

I sniffed. "We're not lowlifes. We never was. We just had rotten luck."

Tom grinned. "You make _me _proud Heaven. The only thing I regret and truly sorry for is missing to see my sister graduate from college."

Fanny made gagging noises in the background. We ignored her.

"Keith and Jane were there to support me," I supplied.

He smiled. "How are those little riffraffs anyway? I notice that you don't call her 'Our Jane'."

I giggled. "She told me that was too babyish. Oh Tom I wish you could have seen them! They're so grown up and beautiful! They're so healthy and _alive_. I know that the people that adopted them care for them and love them both equally. And to tell you the truth, I believe that they got the best of all of us."

"Pa!" Fanny exclaimed, running to him as he came into the tent at that moment. All at once, I lost the smile on my face. Here was the man who never showed me an ounce of love, and sold me without a backwards glance.

"Heaven," Tom warned, probably noticing the look on my face. He probably saw resentment there. "Don't be so hard on him, now. He's changed."

"Where did he get all the money to buy the circus Tom?" I asked, a thought that had plagued my curiosity.

He shrugged. "I don't know. He never told me. But don't bring it up Heaven, please." He led me over closer to where Pa and Fanny stood having their joyous reunion.

I observed him while he was not looking our way. Pa had looked the same as he always did, if you didn't take into account the new grand strands in his hair. As a matter of fact, Pa looked even more handsome than the years I knew him back when we were in the mountains. It was easy to see why now many women fell for him, as he looked dastardly handsome. But it didn't sway my opinion of him any.

I took in the excited reunion he had with Fanny, crying her name and swinging her in the air as he embraced her. Fanny giggled as she use to when she was a little girl.

Sometime during his reunion, he looked up and discovered me there. His eyes lost some of his light, and his smile dimming a few watts. He gave me a cursory nod.

I should have expected as much, _from him_, and not have been so offended or hurt over his obvious distaste and non affection for me. But that still did not prepare me for the cloud of hurt overtaking my eyes, temporarily blinding me, and my heart was encased in a tight fist.

_No Tom, you're wrong,_ I thought sadly. _He hasn't changed. At least not his feelings for me_.

I cleared my throat, trying to loosen the death grip of pain on my throat. I decided to be the better person and speak. "Hello P-Luke," I greeted formally, stopping myself when I would have said Pa.

He nodded again, breaking eye contact with me to look at Tim. _He can't even stare at me for long, not even long enough to acknowledge who I had become and my appearance. _

"I didn't' know you had bout a circus," I continued, straining to keep up as if everything was all right. I tried not to let the fact that the way he greeted Fanny, and the way that he had greeted me was a sad comparison that would drive you to tears.

His head turned back to me, but his gaze chose to settle on a point over my shoulder. He did even have the nerve to look me in the eye as I was talking to him.

He upgraded to a simple 'Yes' this time.

"Your wife said we would find you here," I added.

Fanny broke into the conversation. "Yeah, Pa. I didn't know you had a wife," looking accusingly at him.

He looked down at her, smiling, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "yes, sweetheart. I've been married for five years."

My vision clouded with tears. He could talk to Fanny more than he could talk to me, actually calling her 'sweetheart'. I was the one who had succeeded more in life than she, and had hurt far more that she did. He was treating me as if I was nothing but a stranger on the street.

_No, strangers get treated better than even that_, I thought bitterly. I spun on my heel and raced out of the tent. Tom wasn't too far behind me.

"Heaven! What's wrong?" he exclaimed, grabbing me by my shoulders to prevent me from going any further. I angrily shrugged out of his grasp, again tears falling down my face.

"Oh, get off of it Tom! Did you not just see that in there?"

"See what?" he asked dumbly. That even made me madder than hell.

"Stop acting so oblivious Tom! He couldn't even stare me straight in the eye, much less examine the fact that even though I'm not his biological daughter, we're still bonded together somehow. He still hates me Tom."

"He doesn't hate you," Tom stated, somewhat lamely.

"Oh really? Then why give Fanny more attention, and treat me as if I were something stuck to the bottom of his shoe?" I angrily wiped the tears from my eyes. I'll be damned if he saw me crying and assessed that the tears were for him.

"I need to go…get away from here."

"Wait!" Tom protested, capturing my hand when I tried to walk off. "Why don't you come to dinner?"

I looked at him as if he just sprouted another head. "Are you serious?" I said finally.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Or you can come to the show tonight. IT would mean a lot to me if you'd come to see what I do."

All of a sudden I remembered hat he was the main attraction. With a lion.

"Tom are you sure about that? Performing with a lion is pretty dangerous. You could be seriously hurt."

Tom just grinned. "Naw. I'm not going to be hurt. I know what I'm doing. Say you'll come. Please?"

My resolve broke down. "Okay. I'll come. BUT-" I added for emphasis. "Don't expect me to not be scared for you."

Silence. "What about Pa?" Another silence. "He can get eaten by the lion for all I care."

Tom gave me a stern look. "Don't look at me like that Tom. I'm telling you how I feel."

He shook his head. "That's a pretty mean thing to say about him, Heaven."

"What do you expect for me to say about the man who sold all of us without a backwards glance? He sold me to an unthinkable home; He sold Fanny to a perverted, molesterous monster; He sold you to a..._slave handler_; and…" I trailed off.

"And he sold Keith and Jane to loving and caring parents. And I believe that they did get the best deal of all."

I stubbornly shook my head. "But he split us up! He sold us like we were nothing but cattle waiting to be sold to the highest bidder."

Tom held up his hands in self defense. "Now hold up. I didn't say I agreed with his methods or condone what he did. But perhaps in the long run, it was best for _all _of us. It was better than staying up there in the mountains."

"But we would've been all together," I protested.

"And you wouldn't have gone to 'em fancy schools. It's all in the past, Heaven. You can't haunt Pa for that. Let old ghosts stay in the closet."

Suddenly an idea loomed in my head. It was as if a light had just clicked on in a dark room in my head. "You know what Tom, you bring up a good point. Is it possible that Fanny can stay here? I would hat to break up father and daughter reunion," I added sarcastically.

Tom ignored my last comment. "Sure she can stay. What do you want me to tell her where you went?"

"Just tell her that I went to go run an errand. I'll be back in a few hours to pick her up." And with that, I left the circus area, leaving Tom with a bewildered look on his face.

I checked the trunk for the item in particular that I needed. _Gotcha_, I thought, filled with triumph.

I drove around in town looking for a building in particular that I was searching for. I finally found the place of my destination and grabbed my purse. Revenge was best served cold, that was true. But revenge this hot was just too good to pass up.

_Don't think that I'm letting you off the hook Pa. Not until I hurt you as much as you've hurt me._


End file.
